Fɪɢʜᴛ Fᴏʀ Aʟʟ || Tʜᴇ Cʜᴏsᴇɴ Eɪɢʜᴛ Bᴏᴏᴋ Oɴᴇ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ sᴇᴠᴇɴ || ᴛʜᴇ sᴘɪᴅᴇʀ

Lizzie

I huddled silently in an empty alley, arms around myself for warmth. Of course, today was always the worst day. Every year. Every single year, curse it! But this year was the worst. This year, I turned thirteen. This year, I might have summoned a spirit animal.

Ha! Me, a gutter rat, summon an animal! What utter nonsense. I hugged my knees closer to my chest, thinking back to a little while ago.

~flashback~
I had walked into the town square. The crowd gathered there had whispered and gasped. I remember my chest seizing with nerves, the struggle to keep my head up and my gaze defiant.

Then, a rich boy stepped out of it. "What're you doing here?" He'd sneered, "this is a Nectar ceremony, gutter scum!" His friends had laughed at and taunted me. I remember the unnerved murmurings from the others.

"I'm 13." The words had thrummed in the silence, too loud, too hopeful.

A Greencloak had stepped onto the stage. "Who are you?" He'd demanded, brown eyes hostile.

"Lizzie." I'd lifted my chin, burying the insecurity deep in my core.

"Lizzie who?" The Greencloak had boomed.

They don't want you here. The nagging voice in the back of my mind had laughed.

"Lizzie who?" The Greencloak had repeated, anger biting the edge of his voice. "Give me your name, girl!"

My throat closed off. I had no name. I had no place. As much as I tried to fight it, the voice was right. I choked out the words. "Never– never mind." Then I'd fled. Fled like a coward.
~end flashback~
And now I'm seated here, nursing my wounded pride and hating every cowardly bone in my body. I pressed the heels of my hands into my eyes, despite the dirt staining my skin.

Then I heard it. A voice.

"What are you doing?"

I looked up. In front of me crouched a middle aged man, wearing rich clothing but no green cloak.

I met his eyes with confidence, my hands curling into fists. "I have nothing for you."

"Maybe not." His gaze, disturbingly bright, bored into my own. "But I believe I have something for you." He straightened and extended a hand.

The little voice screamed not to trust him. I decided I'd listened to it enough today, and allowed him to pull my to my feet. "What kind of thing?"

"Good choice." His hazel eyes twinkled. "Walk with me." He gestured toward the street.

I fell into step beside him, curious now. But I was still wary. You always had to be, out here in the streets. Nowhere was safe, least of all for me.

"Do you have a spirit animal?" He finally asked.

I hesitated, a bit startled by the sudden question. "No."

"Unfortunate, really, that those Greencloaks won't give you a spot in the ceremony." He chuckled at my surprised look.

"How did you know?!" I spluttered.

The man, whose name was still unknown to me, stepped in front of me, forcing me to halt in my tracks. "I would recognize anyone who has gone through the same tragedy as I."

My mouth fell open. "You were denied by the Greencloaks?"

"Yes. But don't worry." He flashed a dazzling grin. "Like I said, I have something for you."

I leaned forward, intrigued. "Something that will allow me to summon an animal?" The question popped out before I could question the rationality of it.

But he just beamed brighter. "Clever girl. It something like the Nectar, but different. Better. It will give you the ability to summon an animal. Any animal."

"Any animal at all? I get to choose?" Excitement rose in my voice.

He nodded, looking pleased. "I know I made the right choice. You're a smart girl,..." he trailed off, asking for my name.

I paused. "Lizzie. Lizzie Hope." The made up surname came out in a rush. It warmed me to the core. Hope. That's what he had given me.

"I am the Duke Zerif," he responded, taking my hand and pressing a kiss to the back of it. "But feel free to call me Zerif. I am glad I met you. Now, about that animal... might I offer a suggestion?" He smiled and pulled me into the alley once more.

Adrenaline coursed through me. "Of course."

"Wonderful." He leaned down, his breath caressing my ear as he whispered the suggestion into my ear. Then he rocked back, and pulled a flask from his long cloak. "Take a single sip of this." He handed me the flask.

I opened it and wrinkled my nose, nearly gagging at the terrible smell of it. Grimacing and pinching my nose shut, I pressed it to my lips and took the biggest sip I could manage. My eyes watered as I forced myself to swallow. Coughing, I passed the flask back to him.

He took it and waited.

A sudden flash of light caused me to clap my hands over my eyes. Wincing at the brightness, I peeked out through my fingers. Then it was gone, as quick as it had come. I lifted my hands away from my eyes and blinked a few times.

There, on the ground in front of me, crouched the spider.

"She's gorgeous." I murmured, awed.

Zerif placed his hand on my shoulder, a sinister grin playing on his lips. "And she's all yours."

I found myself imitating it. "Thank you. But what is the catch?"

"Catch?" He laughed. "Ms. Hope. You're too intelligent for your own good. The only catch is that you have to join me."

"In doing what?" I arched an eyebrow.

His smile grew, showing his stunningly white teeth. "Taking down the Greencloaks."

"Of course." The words left my lips without hesitation. "I will do anything to make them feel what I have felt. They'll be sorry."

Zerif squeezed my shoulder. "That's what I was hoping for. Lizzie, welcome to the Conquerors."

Yup. She's with them Conqueror dudes. Muahahahaha! Bet you didn't expect that, huh? Hope you guys are liking it!

edit: 21/03/21
ooo that's a nice date
just some little changes in this guy, mostly in how liz acts.
i completely forgot how much of a rat zerif is, anyone else? he's like,,, ratman3000
anyway! enjoy my lovelies xx